Movie Review – The Strangers: Prey at Night2 min read

After a long 10 years in the making, the sequel to the highly appraised The Strangers came out in March 2018.

Two months on and the last screenings of the film are still showing in some of London’s popular movie theatres.

Now having the status of a cult classic horror, many were hope for the new instalment in the Strangers franchise to be just as good as the first movie.

Sadly, Prey at Night did not manage to live up to the hype of the original story.

Audiences went into the theatres looking for a claustrophobic, home invasion horror movie. But what they ended up with instead is a small budget slasher flick based in a trailer park.

Though arguably some could say that the sequel is also a part of the home invasion sub-genre, the general vibe of this film gives a throwback to that of campfire horrors that were made in the 80s.

The new Strangers movie suffers from what a lot of film in the horror genre do, rinsing a cliched plot.

The story follows a family who go out on a camping trip to (obviously) take their minds off of something significant that will effect one of the children’s lives once they come back home.

Two of the main characters are a sibling duo – one being the edgy teen type and the other being her older brother who she doesn’t get along with but needs for emotional support when the horror unveils.

Despite the cliches, there were elements of the movie that really worked.

One thing people like about this franchise is the strangers in masks and they deliver their eerie villainy once again in this film.

With the combination of some amazing camera work, the film does well in scaring viewers even without jump scenes.

Though I personally don’t see this as a home invasion flick, a sense of claustrophobia is still present in the dark forest setting with all the camper vans and lack of people.

Johannes Roberts small budget of $5m is justified with the lack of setting and gives the film a more Indie horror feel.

Though critics have disliked the film, The Strangers: Prey at Night managed to be a success financially as it made more than five times its budget on the box office.